Can you bring Store Bought Food to a Potluck?

Potlucks are supposed to be fun events where everyone brings food for all the guests to enjoy. Some potlucks have fun themes, celebrate events, or are just a good excuse to have a party.

Some of us get really stressed out about potlucks because we wonder if our cooking skills are good enough, if we have time in our busy lives to make food, and if we have the money to buy great food. This is where store bought food comes to the rescue for a potluck!

Does potluck have to be homemade?

The food you bring to a potluck does not need to be homemade. It doesn’t even have to be over the top amazing and creative. On the other hand it does need to be appropriate for the event.

Let’s go over some tips and tricks for bringing store bought food for a Potluck party!

Tips for Bringing Store Bought Food to a Potluck

1. Quantity

Unlike a typical breakfast, lunch, or dinner, a potluck is meant for everyone to get a sample of all foods. So, we do need to bring enough for everyone to try our dish. If you are trying to calculate servings, you can look at food labels and then multiply by 2. If a normal serving is 1 cup, then at a potluck the serving size would actually only be 1/2 a cup. (Example: a premade cheesecake says it has 8 normal servings, so for a potluck it would actually be 16 servings.)

2. Temperature

Just like with homemade foods, we want to make sure that whatever we buy from the store can be served cold, room temperature, or that the location has a way to heat the item up. We want to skip items like frozen lasagna that would take about an hour to cook at the location.

3. Presentation

We are not trying to pass off store bought food as if we made it ourselves, but it still needs to be presented in an appealing manner. For instance, if we bring crackers and a cheeseball, we don’t want to just throw a box of crackers and a plastic wrapped cheeseball on the table. We need to arrange these items on a platter or large plate.

4. Serving Utensils

Along with presentation, we also need to make sure that any needed serving utensils are brought with our food. For the cheeseball and crackers example, we would want to make sure we bring a knife or spreader, so that the guests can actually serve themselves the items we brought

(Pro Tip: Discount retailers like the Dollar Tree have lots of options for serving platters and serving utensils. Some are made of plastic and are considered one time use, while others can be washed and used again later. This is a great cheap alternative to buying more expensive options.)

5. Stays on Theme

If you are invited to a Mexican Fiesta potluck, you will need to make sure that you bring an item that goes with that theme. Just because the grocery store has Peach Pie on sale, it may not go with the food theme that the host is trying to present. When in doubt, ask your host what they would prefer you to bring.

6. Be Honest

Never try to pass off store bought baked goods or prepared items as your own creations. It is just not worth it. If anyone does ask, just say you were short on time and wanted to make sure you were able to bring something.

What to bring to a potluck without cooking?

Thankfully more and more grocery stores now have plenty of ready to eat items. These include already prepared fruit or vegetable trays, prepared salads in the deli like chicken, egg, or potato salad, and lots of stores have premade dips and spreads.

If you are short on time, culinary skills, or space to make a food item, definitely utilize what is readily available. Just make sure you do it in a respectful manner. So instead of showing up with a bag of canned refried beans, go ahead and open the cans and put them in a bowl with a spoon for serving. This applies to convenience foods like chips, cookies, drinks, and even pizza!